Clinical & Health Affairs Team

In his roles as Senior Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs and Vice President for Health Affairs, Vicente Gracias leads the growth and evolution of the Rutgers Health clinical enterprise and clinical learning environment. He works closely with the deans, faculty leaders, and health system partners to encourage collaboration, advance excellence, and provide strategic direction. He is also the chief academic officer for RWJBarnabas Health and a professor of surgery.

Kimberly Tuby supports the Senior Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs in leading and operationalizing key initiatives and committees in support of Rutgers Health’s strategic priorities and in collaboration with partners. In particular, she has been involved in health education initiatives, policy development, and the office’s strategic planning and communications. Functioning as chief of staff and lead administrator for the office, Kimberly works to ensure smooth operations and cross-team coordination.

Michele Donald is executive assistant to the Senior Vice Chancellor for Clinical Affairs and has over 16 years of executive-level administrative experience, with a background in both private and public sectors. She is also responsible for organizing and scheduling many of the special events for the office.

Joyce Eisenberg drives projects pertaining to clinical operations, student health, and population health. Through her previous experiences in acute care settings, she has developed a passion for improving health care access and effectiveness. 

Rozeena Ashraf has over 20 years of experience in confidential administrative support. She manages high-level tasks across various initiatives, ensuring the smooth operation of the office. Rozeena provides project management support for ongoing human resources projects and is responsible for hiring, onboarding, and offboarding, as well as numerous critical HR functions. She is a key liaison between the office and university human resources, and she collaborates across departments to ensure the efficient processing of HR transactions.

Tissany Chatman has over 20 years of administrative experience to her role. In addition, she also works with university procurement and human resources.

Vice Chancellor Ethan Halm aims to advance population health initiatives in research, education, and clinical care across Rutgers Health schools and their clinical partners. He is Deputy Chief Population Health Officer for RWJBarnabas Health and professor of medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He is also a member of the Rutgers Institute for Health, Health Care Policy, and Aging Research, Cancer Institute of New Jersey, Global Health Institute, and School of Public Health. He is an accomplished leader, researcher, and mentor.

Mary Marchetta O'Dowd leads and supports multi-disciplinary population health-related programs and research projects. She develops partnerships with health care and public health partners at the state, local, and community level. She serves on the board of directors for University Hospital in Newark, as the designee of the President of Rutgers University and is a member of several advisory boards. Prior to joining Rutgers, she served as the commissioner for the New Jersey Department of Health. 

Jack Hemphill manages operations for population health by coordinating the planning, design, implementation, and evaluation of its various initiatives spanning research, education, clinical care, and community engagement. Previously, he served as Battalion Supervisor for the Rutgers University Police Department Community Service Officer Division and co-president of the Rutgers Global Health Institute Student Council. He is currently co-chair of the Rutgers MHA Alumni Association Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee.

Allison Marcucci provides administrative support to the Vice Chancellor for Population Health and supports a broad range of essential administrative duties. She possesses 20 years of administrative experience in higher education, with previous roles supporting the Office of the Secretary of the University and the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School Dean’s Office.

Donna Meeker-O’Rourke supports a variety of population health projects, spanning student wellness, HPV prevention, and health communication efforts. Before joining Rutgers, she worked at Montclair State University for 18 years. Most recently, she was Program Coordinator for the Social Work and Child Advocacy Department. She has experience teaching courses in epidemiology, Latinx health, women and gender studies, and medical humanities. She is interested in researching the systemic factors that contribute to intimate partner violence.

Horacio Hernandez supports a variety of population health projects. Before joining Rutgers, he worked for Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey's Community Health Program and the Hopewell Township Health Department. He has a master of public health with a concentration in global health and a bachelor of arts in sociology and public health from The College of New Jersey. His professional interests include immigrant and migrant populations, occupational health, food insecurity, and health education and literacy.

Brandi Blackshear oversees service and learning opportunities for students within the Rutgers Health Service Corps, and provides project management support for cancer screening, chronic disease management, and other health and health equity initiatives at Rutgers Health. Brandi holds a Master of Social Work from Rutgers.

Amy Rockman's background is in epidemiology, data science, and AI, and she has a long track record of using academically rigorous, data driven research to inform strategic decision-making in health and operations. Some recent projects include adapting a patient flow simulation model, analyzing the impact of robotic surgery, and fostering the creation of artificial intelligence models in medicine.

Associate Vice Chancellor Andrew Evens helps to foster a culture of innovation across multiple medical and health disciplines and provide leadership on operational data analytics and clinical decision-making support systems. He is also associate director for clinical services at the Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey; medical director of the oncology service line and oncology lead for the combined medical group for RWJBarnabas Health; and professor of medicine at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Indu Gupta is a collaborative professional actively contributing to projects focused on health education, New Innovations, and other clinical data projects, leveraging data science and statistical methodologies to drive insights. In the past, she served as a Supervisor Data Analyst in RWJBarnabas Health and as a student assistant data analyst at Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, overseeing team performance and driving process automation.

Neil Kothari works to advance the training of the 1,600 graduate medical education residents and fellows in the Rutgers Health system to achieve the best educational and clinical experiences. He practices Internal Medicine as an academic hospitalist at New Jersey Medical School. He is passionate about teaching and serves as a mentor to students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty.

Rashida Callender-Nelson collaborates closely with the Vice Chancellor for GME to uphold the highest standards of educational quality and regulatory compliance across Rutgers Health's diverse array of residency and fellowship training programs. Committed to advancing the mission of Rutgers Health, she is deeply invested in fostering the professional growth and development of coordinators and passionately committed to shaping the future of healthcare through education and training.

Marc Masciocchi supports the Vice Chancellor for Graduate Medical Education in developing budgets and financial models to ensure the short- and long-term fiscal health of all Rutgers Health physician training programs. He functions as a liaison between program directors and finance professionals representing New Jersey Medical School, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, and health system partners.

Ayla Osman assists with projects related to New Innovations compliance and training, accreditation survey analysis, annual program evaluation distribution and data collection, and general coordination of efforts in the alignment of graduate medical education across the sponsoring institution.

Fayola Edwards has experience in higher education administration, financial reporting, budgeting, and human resource management to her role. She provides advanced, diversified, and confidential administrative and management support within the office.

Noa'a Shimoni works closely with the student health services across Rutgers. She is passionate about student well-being and leads multiple projects to build student mental health resources across the university. Her work centers on advancing a wellness community and utilizing informatics to prioritize student population health.

Reka Somodi works collaboratively to provide vision and strategic planning for programs that foster community well-being across Rutgers Health. Through her prior academic and clinical experience, she has developed a passion for student, clinician, and community wellness.

Chantal Brazeau has over 25 years of experience in the field of health professional well-being. She works with school, university, and health system leadership to foster a culture of professional well-being and provide strategic planning and vision for initiatives that support the well-being of multi-professional faculty, providers, and learners in the academic and clinical environments. She is also the Assistant Dean for Faculty Vitality at New Jersey Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson Medical School.

Michaela Novo supports facilitation and operationalization of advancing well-being at Rutgers Health. This includes supporting research initiatives and grant management, innovation, and ensuring the highest standard of customer service to faculty and staff. Through prior experience in public health, she has developed a passion for the promotion of health and wellness throughout all communities.

Katyana Scott has over 20 years of administrative experience. She works on special projects and additional administrative functions within the office.

Norma Hernandez has over 30 years of experience as an administrative assistant, with extensive experience in medical education, coordinating student education and faculty development activities, organizing teaching schedules and CME events, and more. She has assisted with several Health Research and Services Administration grant applications, outcome tracking, and evaluation. She is the administrative contact for the CIRCLE and One 2 ONE 2 CARE programs.